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House of Gucci (2021)

Jeff Adkins

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Title: House of Gucci (2021)

Tagline: A legacy worth killing for.

Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, Salma Hayek, Camille Cottin, Jack Huston, Reeve Carney, Mădălina Diana Ghenea, Youssef Kerkour, Florence Andrews, Mia McGovern Zaini, Vincent Riotta, Eva Moore, Mehdi Nebbou, Andrea Piedimonte Bodini, Edouard Philipponnat, Bianca Nappi, Gianpiero Pumo, Livio Beshir, Miloud Mourad Benamara, Mario Opinato, Luca Chikovani, Andrea Bruschi, Dante Alba, Alexia Murray, Johanna Santos, Gaetano Bruno, Vincenzo Tanassi, Mauro Lamantia, Nicole Bani Sarkute, Clelia Rossi Marcelli, Pietro Ragusa, Alessandro Pess, Al Mariotti

Release: 2021-11-24

Runtime: 158

Plot: When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately…murder.

 

Jeff Adkins

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I went to see this tonight. I went in with lowered expectations based on some of the reviews, but I came away pretty happy with it. Gaga, Driver, Leto and Irons all give amazing performances. The only one who didn't stand out was Pacino. It just felt like the same character Pacino has been playing for decades.

It's a long film, but it flew by. Overall, I liked it much more than some of the critics.

4.5/5
 

Adam Lenhardt

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I went in with lowered expectations based on some of the reviews, but I came away pretty happy with it.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but my impression of the mixed reviews is as follows: I think some of the critics were expecting an Oscar-worthy prestige film from Ridley Scott, whereas he was interested in making a flashy, trashy crime thriller centered around the nineties' most tabloid-ready murderess, who struck at the heart of one of Europe's elite families. Criticizing it as shallow is, to some degree, to miss the point.
 

Beckford

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Saw this today. Interesting that two big-budget Ridley Scott films (this and "The Last Duel") should appear within a month or two of each other. I suppose Covid era delays and the subsequent release logjam probably had something to do with it.
Lady Gaga's already proven she has big screen presence and she does pretty well here. But the performance doesn't pack the element of surprise that made her largely unexpected excellence in "A Star is Born" so buzzy.
Adam Driver's brings some interesting invention into his portrayal of an innocent (albeit rich) boy in the film's early stages As the character gradually becomes more cynical, the performance unfortunately becomes rather more ordinary .
Rest of the cast is a mixed bag. Salma Hayak's smooth but Jared Leto's just a bad joke here. And I say that as someone who's enjoyed his work elsewhere. Jeremy Irons is also pretty lousy (inadequately replacing the initially cast Robert De Niro). I suspect De Niro would have brought a lot more to the party and to the part. Reviewers seem to be ignoring Jack Huston. I think he's terrific, beautifully understated as a quiet but consummate manipulator. A kind of tactfully disciplined Iago.
Have to disagree with an earlier poster about Al Pacino. For me, he's the picture acting standout. The man gets a good slice of screen time, emerging as the film's most vivid and charismatic figure. If there is an acting nomination in this movie's future, I hope it goes to Mr. Pacino.
 

Colin Jacobson

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I haven't seen the movie yet, but my impression of the mixed reviews is as follows: I think some of the critics were expecting an Oscar-worthy prestige film from Ridley Scott, whereas he was interested in making a flashy, trashy crime thriller centered around the nineties' most tabloid-ready murderess, who struck at the heart of one of Europe's elite families. Criticizing it as shallow is, to some degree, to miss the point.

But the movie isn't a flashy, trashy crime thriller.

I'm honestly not sure what it intends to be.

The movie flits all over the place and really goes nowhere.

While it should concentrate on Patrizia's rise and fall, it spends far too much time with fairly extraneous domains and characters, most of which don't add up to much.

The movie has no real flow or clear continuity. It bops from one scene to another in a way that connects superficially - ie, the shifts don't seem jarring - but the whole narrative never comes together in a satisfying manner.

It feels like Scott grabbed semi-random chapters from the source book, filmed them and edited them together with a shrug.

I love me some Gaga, so I wanted her to be great, but she's just good. Some of that stems from the limitations of the character, as the movie buries Patrizia with thankless scenes too much of the time.

If you've seen the trailers, you've seen most of Patrizia's interesting moments. For the film's lead, she seems oddly ignored much of the time.

The narrative plays out in a confusing manner and as noted, spends too much time with extraneous side journeys. Most of the scenes with Aldo and/or Paolo don't need to exist.

Pacino plays "the Al Pacino Character" much of the time, while Leto does what he does. He generates a lot of eccentric mannerisms and hopes that we'll view this collection of oddball quirks as an actual performance. It doesn't work.

This never becomes an unwatchable movie, but it gets less and less interesting as it goes, mainly because the general incoherence becomes more of a problem.

A flashy, trashy crime thriller would've be fun. "House" is just too boring most of the time, so if anyone expects a lurid potboiler, they'll encounter only disappointment.
 

SamT

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:D Ridley Scott blamed the audience and their phones for not liking "The Last Duel".


“I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cell phones. The millennian do not ever want to be taught anything unless you are told it on the cell phone,”
 

Josh Dial

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But the movie isn't a flashy, trashy crime thriller.

I'm honestly not sure what it intends to be.

The movie flits all over the place and really goes nowhere.

While it should concentrate on Patrizia's rise and fall, it spends far too much time with fairly extraneous domains and characters, most of which don't add up to much.

The movie has no real flow or clear continuity. It bops from one scene to another in a way that connects superficially - ie, the shifts don't seem jarring - but the whole narrative never comes together in a satisfying manner.

It feels like Scott grabbed semi-random chapters from the source book, filmed them and edited them together with a shrug.

I love me some Gaga, so I wanted her to be great, but she's just good. Some of that stems from the limitations of the character, as the movie buries Patrizia with thankless scenes too much of the time.

If you've seen the trailers, you've seen most of Patrizia's interesting moments. For the film's lead, she seems oddly ignored much of the time.

The narrative plays out in a confusing manner and as noted, spends too much time with extraneous side journeys. Most of the scenes with Aldo and/or Paolo don't need to exist.

Pacino plays "the Al Pacino Character" much of the time, while Leto does what he does. He generates a lot of eccentric mannerisms and hopes that we'll view this collection of oddball quirks as an actual performance. It doesn't work.

This never becomes an unwatchable movie, but it gets less and less interesting as it goes, mainly because the general incoherence becomes more of a problem.

A flashy, trashy crime thriller would've be fun. "House" is just too boring most of the time, so if anyone expects a lurid potboiler, they'll encounter only disappointment.

Very good review, Colin. I pretty much agree with everything you wrote. It's not bad, but it's not great. Lady Gaga is good, but not great. Driver is is good (maybe the best of the bunch) but not great. It's sort of all over the place, but never in a bad way.

The movie is exactly the sum of its parts.

As I wrote in the Belfast thread: if you are deciding between seeing House of Gucci and Belfast in the theatre, go see Belfast twice.
 

Colin Jacobson

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JoeStemme

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The lifestyles of the rich and famous make great fodder for cinema - beautiful people, scenic locations, wealth, power, scandal. HOUSE OF GUCCI certainly has all of that and more. Add in a generous budget, a bunch of famous actors and juicy real life story and it's a can't miss - right? Ridley Scott's movie certainly has its enjoyments, but, it lacks a consistent tone and focus.
Based on the Guccis, an Italian family who became an international fashion institution, Becky Johnson and Roberto Bentivega's screenplay centers on Maurizio (Adam Driver) the son of co-founder Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) and heir to half the Gucci brand. The other half is owned by a brother, Aldo (Al Pacino), who also has a son standing in line, Paulo (Jared Leto). Enter Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) who meets cute with Maurizio and entices him into marriage. The first half is set in the 70s and early 80s with disco music as a soundtrack and the beauty of Milan as a backdrop. It's a decently entertaining set-up. Once Rodolfo exits the scene, GUCCI takes a darker turn. The music and locations are still inviting, but, the characters become more and more bitter - at each other's throats (sometimes literally).

The movie is devised as a big glossy soap opera. The backbiting, scheming and double-crosses keep it interesting enough, but, Scott never gets a firm handle on the material. The director has never shown a true light touch in his work (even if his THE MARTIAN was infamously put in the Best Comedy category by the not so Golden Globes). The heavily made-up Leto's Paulo is like a mad wind-up toy that has been over-wound and never lets up. Pacino is in full bluster mode trying to keep up (although, he does have a few quieter, better moments here and there). Jeremy Irons (who looks more and more like Boris Karloff every year) can't shake his British upper-lip countenance. Add in a dash of Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek to the stew of accents. Driver is simply miscast as a suave Mediterranean fashion mogul. He tries, but, it doesn't sell. And, poor Jack Huston (as Rodolfo's consigliere). He seems to think this is all a straight sober drama.

Enter Lady Gaga. It's an out sized blowzy performance, worthy of a nighttime soap opera queen like Joan Collins in Dynasty (or Dallas, Knots Landing etc.). Gaga still isn't a polished actress, but, as the expression goes - she's gotta big personality. She's energetic and enthusiastic and carries much of the movie (Gaga wants that Oscar -- but is more likely to win a Golden Globe AND a Razzie). It's too bad the filmmakers didn't have the foresight to include a cat-fight between Patrizia and Maurizio's lady friend Paula (Camille Cottin)! Gaga's also one of the few in the main cast with an Italian background (nee Germanotta). Her accent may not feel utterly genuine but she carries it off (Pacino has long since sounded like any character other than “Al Pacino”).

If only Scott had channeled Gaga's cue and followed her lead throughout - make it a fun romp. Instead, the tenor of the picture seems to shift from scene to scene. The song score is confused as well - it begins with period appropriate specific tunes and then bounces back and forth, sometimes anachronistically (George Michael's 1987 'Faith' scores a 1972 wedding). Each actor is in their own movie. Some have called the movie “camp”, but nothing in Scott's resume, interviews or public appearances indicate that the term would ever apply to him. Certainly, some of the humor is intended, but, any camp value is certainly unintentional. Further, the movie is simply too long and without a consistently strong narrative drive. It has it's moments, and Gaga is a soapy delight, but GUCCI lacks the one thing that the namesake family always prided itself on - a powerful dependable style.
 
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Colin Jacobson

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(George Michael's 1987 'Faith' scores a 1972 wedding).

1982, but you're right that the movie uses music in a loose manner chronologically.

I can swallow that when it's not diagetic, though. It's a bit of a distraction but not a huge one for me.

I was taken out of the scene where Patrizia and Maurizio meet because apparently the DJ at the party only played Donna Summer.

Really? How many big dance parties only play one artist???
 

JoeStemme

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1982, but you're right that the movie uses music in a loose manner chronologically.

I can swallow that when it's not diagetic, though. It's a bit of a distraction but not a huge one for me.

I was taken out of the scene where Patrizia and Maurizio meet because apparently the DJ at the party only played Donna Summer.

Really? How many big dance parties only play one artist???
The movie shifts the timeline, but, the wedding was in 1972.

I, too, don't necessarily require strict release dates with songs, but, when it went back and forth it did come off as just plain sloppy.
 

Colin Jacobson

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The movie shifts the timeline, but, the wedding was in 1972.

I, too, don't necessarily require strict release dates with songs, but, when it went back and forth it did come off as just plain sloppy.

Oh, you mean the real wedding.

Well, since the movie moves the leads' meeting to 1978, it'd be tough for them to stage the wedding in 1972.

Even in the movie's timeline, it's too early for "Faith", but it's closer than 1972! :D
 
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